The Project: A Hybrid Fleet for Croatia's Longest Intercity Line

The first unit entered service on 15 September 2026. It is the first of six electro-diesel multiple units that Končar - Electric Vehicles is building for the Zagreb-Split route, all expected in service by the end of 2026. The €57.3 million order is financed through a European Investment Bank loan.

The hybrid drive answers a very specific challenge. The line is 429 km long, but only the first 103 km out of Zagreb are electrified. The new trains run on electricity under the wires and switch to diesel for the rest of the journey through Lika and the Dalmatian hinterland.

Each 160 km/h unit offers around 150 seats, including 12 in first class, and up to three units can run coupled. From December, HŽPP plans to add services on the route, with two daily trains from each city and a weekend night train. The second unit was presented to the international public at InnoTrans 2026 in Berlin, and five more electro-diesel trains will follow in 2027-2028 for routes linking Zagreb with Osijek, Rijeka and Pula.

What Passengera Delivers On Board

Each of the 11 new trains is fitted with a Passengera G7S connectivity and application gateway which provides provides:

• Train-to-ground connectivity. The gateway manages the train's multiple mobile data connections and shares them across the onboard Wi-Fi network, for passengers and other services usage

• HŽPP-branded captive portal with multiple authentication methods. The first digital touch point for passengers to see when they join the Wi-Fi. It gives the operator a direct channel to every connected passenger.

• Monitoring & Management Suite (MMS) subscription. Centralised wayside platform for monitoring of the connectivity quality and all digital assets onboard health across the whole fleet, with automated alerts that discover issues before passengers notice them.

• Security by design. Secure boot, encrypted storage, firewall protection and WPA3 encryption, developed under Passengera's IEC 62443-4-1 certified secure development lifecycle.

The first gateway went on board in June 2026, well ahead of the train's first passenger run.

Why Connectivity Matters on This Route

Zagreb-Split is one of the longest rail journeys in Croatia, and much of it runs through sparsely populated mountain terrain. On a trip this long, reliable Wi-Fi is part of what passengers weigh when they choose between train, bus and car.

For HŽPP, the platform brings three concrete benefits:

• A better journey. Passengers can work, stream and plan their onward trip without using their own mobile data, which matters especially to international visitors on roaming.

• A direct passenger channel. The captive portal carries HŽPP's own announcements, service updates and offers to every connected device.

• Room to grow. The G7S is also an edge computing platform, so HŽPP can later add services such as an infotainment portal, automated passenger counting, real-time journey information or onboard advertising without installing new hardware.

Passengera expands in the region

HŽPP's new hybrid trains are the latest chapter in Passengera's work in Croatia, all delivered together with Combis. Between 2022 and 2024, we equipped HŽPP's new Končar electric multiple units for urban and regional services. In 2025, we added our gateways to existing HŽPP trains of series 6112 and 7023.

"Zagreb-Split is a demanding line for connectivity: long, mountainous and far from the big cities for much of the way. That is exactly where passengers notice whether the Wi-Fi works," said Jan Kolář, CEO of Passengera. "We are proud that HŽPP's new trains carry our platform from their very first day in service, and we thank Combis and Končar for a smooth integration."

Partnership and Next Steps

The project is delivered with Combis, Passengera's integration partner in Croatia, which provides the onboard Wi-Fi network and local project support, and with Končar as the train manufacturer. Working through strong local partners is how Passengera serves operators in markets worldwide.

The remaining five Zagreb-Split trains will join the fleet by the end of 2026, each connected from day one. The next five units follow from 2027 on routes linking Zagreb with Osijek, Rijeka and Pula.